The Web site for
Raymond A. Desautels III once boasted that he was "a lawyer you can
trust." Last week, the disbarred Massachusetts lawyer was sentenced to
2.5 years in prison for misappropriating $1.99 million from a client's
account, reports the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester.

Desautels received the $1.99 million from a client in Ireland, Kevin
Phelan, to use in a purchase of commercial real estate in Pennsylvania.
He received the money on Jan. 24, 2008 to use in the closing scheduled
for Jan. 31. But on Jan. 28, Desautels disbursed the money to Allen
Seymour, a businessman in his hometown of Oxford, Mass., who said he
needed it temporarily to dupe potential lenders about his net worth.

Seymour promptly took the money and ran. Customs agents arrested him a
week later in Florida, where he had attempted to leave the country for
Venezuela on a private jet. Agents found Seymour with his wife, five
children, the family dog and some $1.4 million in cash, concealed in
bags hidden in his luggage. Seymour was sentenced in July to 51 months
imprisonment.

As for former lawyer Desautels, he broke down in tears as he told the
federal judge at his sentencing that it was impossible for him to say
how sorry he was. "I should have known better and I didn't," he said.
Earlier, he had pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. He had also pleaded guilty last month in state court to five counts of inducing a mortgage
lender to part with property by false pretenses, allegedly as part of a scheme organized by Seymour.

Desautels' former
client, Kevin Phelan, appeared in court to urge the judge to impose a
sentence that would send a strong message to other lawyers. Afterwards,
Phelan said he thought Desautels got too light a sentence.

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'Lawyer You Can Trust' Gets Prison for Theft

The Web site for
Raymond A. Desautels III once boasted that he was "a lawyer you can
trust." Last week, the disbarred Massachusetts lawyer was sentenced to
2.5 years in prison for misappropriating $1.99 million from a client's
account, reports the Telegram & Gazette in Worcester.

Desautels received the $1.99 million from a client in Ireland, Kevin
Phelan, to use in a purchase of commercial real estate in Pennsylvania.
He received the money on Jan. 24, 2008 to use in the closing scheduled
for Jan. 31. But on Jan. 28, Desautels disbursed the money to Allen
Seymour, a businessman in his hometown of Oxford, Mass., who said he
needed it temporarily to dupe potential lenders about his net worth.

Seymour promptly took the money and ran. Customs agents arrested him a
week later in Florida, where he had attempted to leave the country for
Venezuela on a private jet. Agents found Seymour with his wife, five
children, the family dog and some $1.4 million in cash, concealed in
bags hidden in his luggage. Seymour was sentenced in July to 51 months
imprisonment.

As for former lawyer Desautels, he broke down in tears as he told the
federal judge at his sentencing that it was impossible for him to say
how sorry he was. "I should have known better and I didn't," he said.
Earlier, he had pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. He had also pleaded guilty last month in state court to five counts of inducing a mortgage
lender to part with property by false pretenses, allegedly as part of a scheme organized by Seymour.

Desautels' former
client, Kevin Phelan, appeared in court to urge the judge to impose a
sentence that would send a strong message to other lawyers. Afterwards,
Phelan said he thought Desautels got too light a sentence.